


The Case of the Caged Canary

by monochromeDramatist



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Noir, Multi, Murder Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-12-24 04:07:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21093128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monochromeDramatist/pseuds/monochromeDramatist
Summary: When a beautiful and mysterious stranger walks into Kyoko Kirigiri's office, she can instantly tell that she's going to be more trouble than she's worth. The missing persons case she presents seems straightforward enough - but less than an hour later, a high ranking member of the Kuzuryuu Clan is dead, and if Kirigiri doesn't get to the bottom of it fast, Mono City could be consumed in an all out gang war.Can Kirigiri put all the pieces together by sunrise? What happened to Makoto Naegi? Who fired the arrow? What does any of this have to do with Kirigiri's old partner? And most importantly, who is Sayaka Maizono, really?





	The Case of the Caged Canary

They say the rain never stops in Towa City. It comes bucketing down relentlessly, as though trying to scour the city streets clean. It hasn’t succeeded, and it never will. There are some sins that can’t be washed away.

Through the window shutters, the pouring rain turned the half-light a murky shade of blue, drenching the office in a submarine fugue. My feet up on the desk, I followed the path of a fly as it idled through the room, tracing wandering circles in the air. Business was slow. Business was _always_ slow. Not much call for a private eye in a city where no one cares to see justice served.

In half-flecked paint on a grimy window in an already shadowy doorway, you can just make out the words ‘Kirigiri Detective Agency’. That’s my name, and that’s my business. At least, it is when there’s business to be had.

I was brought abruptly out of my murky reverie by a series of knocks on the door, harsh and sharp as machine-gun fire. “Come in,” I called out, over the low drone of the ceiling fan. “Door’s open.”

There was a harsh creak as the hallway light came flooding into the room. Stepping forward cautiously came a woman who couldn’t be far from my age. Her hair, the colour of the ocean on a stormy day, framed a face like that of a porcelain doll. The sleek pink dress she was wearing hugged her figure tightly, accentuating the shape of her body, but in a way that was chaste, demure, carrying an affected innocence. Her perfume left a trace of vanilla hanging in the air, but it wasn’t the only scent she carried. I could smell it a mile away. This dame was going to be trouble.

“Um, I’m looking for Detective Kirigiri,” she said in a voice that carried a quiet confidence, despite her timid demeanour.

I drew a breath. “Speaking.”

She raised a hand to her mouth. “I, I’m sorry, I was expecting-”

I cut her off. “Don’t worry, I’m used to it. Everyone thinks they know what a sleuth looks like, and it ain’t me.” I sat up straighter. “So, something I can help you with, doll?”

“Um, my name is Sayaka Maizono. I work as, well, a singer at the nightclub near here – you know, the _Dancing Bear, _just down the road a little ways.”

So, the bird was a canary. Her voice did carry a sweet, melodious chime. It wasn’t hard to picture her swaying in tune behind a microphone, or draped over a piano in a sleek red dress, or – _goddammit, Kyoko, this girl walked through the door half a minute ago, and you’re already fantasizing about her_. _Focus. _I snapped myself back to reality. “Yeah, I know the place. Passed by it once or twice.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Not a patron?”

“Not exactly my scene. I prefer a quieter joint.” I leaned forward, resting my chin on the back of my hand. “But if all the performers are as pretty as you, I might have to reconsider.”

The faintest hint of a blush crept into Maizono’s cheeks, but otherwise, she barely reacted. If I’d thrown her off guard, she wasn’t showing it. “Um, I need your help,” she said quickly. “It’s… about my fiancé.”

The bird was tethered. Damn. “Want me to find out if he has a side piece, huh?” That was how this sort of thing usually went.

“N-no! No, he’s not the type. He’s gone missing. I think he may have been kidnapped.” She rooted around in her purse, frowning in concentration, and then removed her wallet, from which she pulled a worn photograph. “This is him,” she added, sliding the photograph across my desk. As she leaned over the desk to pass it to me, the scent of vanilla grew stronger –almost overwhelming. I confess, I leaned in just a little bit closer to her, our faces so close they were almost touching. Her eyes seemed like mirrors, silvery and reflective – I could read nothing in them. Standing back up, she readjusted her dress slightly.

I looked at the photograph she’d handed me. The man in it, her fiancé, had a face as plain as rice, as unremarkable as a cloudy day. It was almost impossible to imagine someone as plain as this man on the arm of a goddess like Maizono. I wondered what she saw in him.

Maizono flushed; seemingly picking up on my thoughts. “M-Makoto is, um, probably the nicest person I’ve ever met.” She looked down. “In showbusiness, it’s all about how you look, what you wear, your… physicality, I guess. You have to fight just to get by. It seemed like most people only cared about me for…” She gestured to her body. “But Makoto was always different. Whenever we talked he wanted to know about my life, about how I was, what I was doing. I could tell he cared about me as a person, not just about how I looked.”

_Still, I bet how you looked didn’t hurt; _I couldn’t stop myself from thinking.

Maizono gave a small, sad laugh. “I suppose not.”

_Again? It’s almost as though she’s reading my mind…_

She looked straight at me. “I’m psychic, you see.”

I said nothing.

“…just kidding.” She looked down again. “So, Miss Kirigiri, will you, um, take my case?”

I took a sharp breath. “Just, just Kirigiri. Please.” I leaned back in my chair, looking Maizono up and down. “Last time a dame with a face like yours walked into my office, things didn’t turn out so well.” I had to stop myself from instinctually raising a hand to the pocket of my shirt. I hadn’t had the strength to get rid the shreds of that torn photograph, and they were still left there, burning a hole over my heart.

I shook myself out of it, focusing my attention on Maizono. “What I’m saying is, doll, I don’t work for free. You want to hire the best snoop this side of the river? You pay half your fee upfront. See, people don’t like what I find, they don’t tend to give me the rest of it.”

Maizono nodded. “Of, of course, I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t prepared to pay.” She opened her wallet again, taking out a wad of bills. She handed them to me, and I flicked through what she’d given me.

“S’all there,” I confirmed, and slipped the dough into a drawer of my desk, making sure to lock it afterwards. “Is there any reason you haven’t gone to the police with this?”

She frowned, wringing her hands. “Well, he hasn’t really been gone that long, you see. About a day or so. This… it’s just instinct really, that something is wrong, but I’m never wrong about this sort of thing.”

“I see.” I rested my elbow on the table. “So, tell me more about this other half of yours. You said you thought he was kidnapped? You got a letter, a ransom note, anything like that?”

Maizono frowned. “N-no, nothing yet.”

I gave a non-committal half nod in response. “That could mean anything or nothing. If you do receive one, let me know straight away.”

She nodded.

“Alright, is there anyone you can think of with a grudge against him? Who might want to hurt him?”

“I… I can’t imagine anyone who could want to hurt Makoto. He was always so nice… everyone who knew him said so.” Maizono sniffled, wiping a tear away with her hand. “You, you don’t think he’s been hurt… do you?”

I lifted a hand to my temple, turning away from her just a little. “I can’t say anything at this point. I ‘m sorry.”

Maizono looked down. “I, I understand. Of course, you wouldn’t know.”

I stood up, putting my hand on her shoulder. Her body was surprisingly cold, but I squeezed my hand tightly, sensing the shape of her collarbone beneath her soft, pale skin. “I’ll do my best to find him. I promise.”

She looked up at me, eyes still glistening with tears. Her expression was a silent signal that she was placing her faith in me.

“So, tell me, where was the last place you saw him?”


End file.
